An Upward Trajectory

A new season of reGROUP is upon us as we officially launch on Monday, September 21st at 7 p.m. Let’s be honest – launching stuff is exciting. The very word “launch” carries the essence of an upward trajectory and a feeling of newness; a rebirth. Of course, many of us - myself included - did not feel the exhilarating thrust of a lift off when we walked through the doors of reGROUP on that first Monday night.

Instead, it was the weight of our sin that brought many of us falling back to Earth, burning us up upon reentry, and breaking us into a million pieces as we finally crashed. I’ll admit, that all sounds pretty terrible. For some of us, it was. For others of us, it still is. Sin is real. Sin breaks us. Sin is death. Yet, there is no easy way to describe the incredible hope that can be found in a ministry that focuses on hurts, habits, and hang-ups by examining our sin within the context of community. Perhaps “launch” is the wrong word. Maybe it’s better to simply say that we are here.

A question I hear a lot is, “Who is reGROUP for, exactly?” The best answer is that it’s not for everyone and at the same time it is available to all of us. Whenever you have a ministry like reGROUP an unintentional, invisible, and dangerous wall goes up that covertly communicates this: church is for sinners – reGROUP is for the real sinners. This is a lie from the pit and it breeds self-righteousness and division. The truth is (using the launch metaphor from earlier) that we are all busted and broken little rockets that have been knocked off course due to the gravitational pull of our sin. But there is one thing that can help us defy the gravity of our brokenness and that is the grace afforded to us through Christ Jesus. In this way, reGROUP may just become the launch pad that guides you gently back into an intimate orbit around the Son.

We are go for launch on Monday, September 21st at 7 p.m.

Our recovery ministry, reGROUP, is a process of a spiritual formation through addressing people's hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Anyone is welcome to join us for reGROUP on Monday nights at 7 p.m. at the Herndon campus.